Pattali Makkal Katchi floats new platform to get SC/ST Act amended

MADURAI: Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) leader, S Ramadoss, on Thursday floated a new forum comprising intermediate caste groups for preventing inter-caste love marriages and to fight for the amendments in the SC/ST Act. The meeting, where he presided over was attended by 51 non-dalit outfits and the forum was named as 'All Community Forum to Fight for the Amendments in Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and Prevent Inter-caste Fake Love Marriages'. Under this forum, they will be fighting for the protection of their women who are allegedly lured into fake marriages between dalit and non-dalit communities, which are used to extort money from the caste Hindu communities later. They will also be sensitising their girls and communities regarding such fake marriages. On January 24, the forum will demonstrate at all district headquarters, Ramadoss announced.

Interacting with media persons, Ramadoss flayed inter-caste love marriages stating they are used as fake marriages to extort money from non-dalit families by a particular dalit outfit.

"We are not against love marriages or inter-caste marriages," Ramadoss reiterated when he interacted with media persons but quickly lashed back stating that there is no such thing called true love or divine love. "Let the Dravidian or Socialist parties that propagate inter-caste marriages show how much they have implemented it in their own homes or party," he commented. "We are not against the inter-caste harmony. Those who want to arrest me on charges of ruining social harmony are either lunatics or persons who don't know me," he said.

Ramadoss also demanded that the statutory age of marriage for women be raised to 21 from 18 and for men to be raised to 23. In case the marriages are to be held below this age, parents' permission should be made mandatory, he said.

The meeting passed five resolutions such as amending the SC/ST Act to make arrest under the Act bailable and to form a committee headed by a judicial magistrate to study the authenticity of a complaint. If the complaint is found to be false or motivated, the complainant should be given stringent punishment. The young women who are 'lured' into love marriages by dalits should be protected and they should be sensitised in this regard. The police should create a special branch to prevent harassment of girls and ladies special buses should be operated in all the districts like Chennai. A probe by a retired high court judge should be ordered to investigate fake inter-caste marriages.